Peter Parker's New Groove by CambrianBeckett

Wanda Maximoff Pt. 2

Slowly, Wanda pulls herself free of Peter’s embrace. Honestly, in the moments after Vision spoke up, seemingly suddenly back to life, he’d forgotten for a short time that he was even holding the older woman. He’s certainly not going to keep holding her, so she easily moves away from him, reaching out to Vision, only to falter at the look on the Android’s face.
 
“V-Vis… Vis, I b-brought you back. I did it, Vis…”
 
“No, Wanda.”
 
Peter swallows thickly as Wanda’s breath catches and she lets out an honest to god whimper in the face of Vision’s seeming rejection. Of course, the moment he notices that, that the synthetic man softens considerably, almost seeming to prove that he is indeed The Vision that Peter barely knew before his death. Letting out a sigh, Vision reaches forward and gathers Wanda into his arms, holding her and running his hands up and down her back.
 
“This isn’t me, Wanda. This is you. It’s all you.”
 
Peter blinks owlishly at that, while Wanda jerks in Vision’s grasp as if struck, pulling back just enough to look up into his face.
 
“W-What?”
 
Gesturing around them at the maelstrom of red energy that Wanda has surrounded, nay, encased them in, Vision smiles sadly.
 
“Do you not see what you’re doing, Wanda? You’re rewriting reality itself around us. You’re making something new here… but is it good? Is it right? I am a product of your powers, Wanda Maximoff. To survive, I will have to remain within this new world you are creating. But just who will you displace to make that world? Will you take over the city and bring governments and heroes alike down upon our heads?”
 
Wanda’s breath hitches and she stares around at what she’s created wildly, tear tracks down her cheeks. It’s clear that Vision is finally making her see what her momentary bout of madness has caused her to do.
 
“We don’t… w-we don’t have to bother anyone, Vis. I can… I can take us away from the city. We can be together, f-forever…”
 
“Wanda… would you truly be happy with that? Isolated? Alone?”
 
“… M-Maybe just a small town?”
 
“Wanda…”

The disappointment in Vision’s voice is audible, and Wanda flinches back from it. And yet, Peter can tell that she’s considering it all the same. This woman… is powerful. He’s always been tangentially aware of that much, but he’s just your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. It’s only now dawning on Peter what sort of forces, what sort of people his mentor regularly dealt with, for all that he himself HAD technically dealt with Thanos. Toni Stark hadn’t managed to keep Peter away from THAT fight, but she’d kept him away from most other things. She’d kept him away from this.
 
Wanda was desperate and feeling alone, deeply alone. She had the power to back up her desires too, if Vision was any indication. If she could bring Vision back, what else might her powers be capable of? This small town she spoke of… what would Wanda do to it just by being there, just by making it hospitable for her recreation of Vision to live in? Who’s to say what would happen to the people?
 
Most weren’t built to live alone. Humans were sociable creatures after all. It was obvious Wanda couldn’t make do with just her and Vision, regardless of how much she loved the synthezoid. She needed more, and Vision was calling her out on it. Even then however, she was STILL thinking about it, still considering going for it.
 
Honestly, as much as he loved Toni, he could also feel a smidgen of resentment towards her in this moment, because he really didn’t know how to DEAL with a crazed, desperate Wanda Maximoff. Sure, he’d somehow pushed through her energy barrier, and her attempt to push him away had, for some reason, not worked one bit… but Peter wasn’t sure what the hell he was supposed to even say.
 
Unfortunately, he doesn’t get the liberty of fading quietly into the background while Vision tried, and potentially failed to talk his love down. Instead, perhaps sensing that he’s not convincing Wanda of what needs to be done, this… facsimile of Vision that her power has created looks up to Peter, making eye contact with him.
 
“… And what of poor Peter here then? Will you silence him to keep Toni from finding out where we go? Will we take him with us, kidnapping him away from his home?”
 
Jolting, as if just remembering Peter’s presence, Wanda looks over at him too. Peter winces and tries for a half-hearted smile and a wave as she stares at him, wide and wild-eyed.
 
“I don’t… he’s not… I can’t touch him.”
 
The wounded admission sounds like it’s difficult for Wanda to admit. She winces, even as Peter puzzles over what she means for a moment before understanding dawns. She’s saying that she can’t touch him with her powers for some reason. Because she’d been more than capable of physically touching him when she was sobbing into his chest. And why can’t her powers affect him? He’s not anyone special…
 
“Perhaps it’s a sign, Wanda. Sometimes… sometimes things end. Sometimes you have to move on.”
 
As Vision speaks, he’s directing a pleading look over Wanda’s shoulder to Peter, as if the Vibranium Synthezoid thinks that Peter can somehow come up with the right words to placate Wanda Maximoff.
 
“H-Haven’t I moved on enough, Vis? My parents… my brother. I have to give you up as well? He didn’t even know me! When I fought Thanos during the final battle, he didn’t even know who I WAS?! He didn’t even comprehend what he’d taken from me, and I STILL wasn’t strong enough to avenge you properly!”
 
Oof. Peter licks his lips as he tries to think of what he should say in this situation. In the end, he just kind of starts and hopes he finds the proper words before he stops.
 
“Ah, um… Ms. Maximoff. I… kind of know what you’re going through. My parents died when I was pretty young too, and then… then I lost my Uncle Ben shortly after I got my powers. It hurt. It hurt a lot and I think about him every day. But Uncle Ben always said, ‘With great power, comes great responsibility’. I try to live up to that every single day.”
 
Wanda stares at him searchingly with wide teary eyes, as if trying to find something in him to be mad at, to hate. Peter shifts uneasily, but Vision just smiles at him over the top of Wanda’s head, before leaning down and murmuring in her ear. Peter is pretty sure he’s not supposed to hear the synthetic man, but they might have forgotten about his enhanced senses.
 
“From the mouth of babes, my dear Wanda. Perhaps this is why you can’t touch young Peter. You and he are more alike then you could have known. There is wisdom in what he says.”
 
Wanda’s face scrunches up in grief and pain and agony, and she lets out a choked sob as she grits her teeth. She glares at Peter then, but rather impotently, like she knows she can’t deny his words, nor can she find anything to hate about him, but she wants to anyways.
 
“Why… why are you even DOWN here? S-Shouldn’t you be out swinging from webs or something?”
 
Swallowing thickly, Peter straightens up, a line that he’d once told Toni coming back to him in that moment.
 
“Because… because when you can do the things I can do, but you don’t and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.”